Kyle Busch scores improbable Nationwide Series win at Chicagoland

Kyle Busch won the Nationwide Series race at Chicagoland.

Kyle Busch led more than half the laps and clearly had the car to beat in Friday night's Dollar General Nationwide Series 300 at Chicagoland Speedway. All true--but it still took two late-race cautions and a failed fuel gamble by points-leader Brad Keselowski to get him to victory lane in another two-lap overtime finish.

Busch was chasing leader Joey Logano when a debris caution slowed the race with 15 laps remaining. Busch took four tires while most others took two, and restarted sixth with 10 laps left. It took him several laps to reach fourth and he didn't seem to have enough time to overhaul third-running David Reutimann, second-running Keselowski and then get Logano.

But another incident with four laps remaining changed everything. Under caution for Trevor Bayne's accident, Busch was aligned behind Keselowski, who was to the right of Logano for the green-white-checkered finish. But after driving by his pit a few laps earlier, Keselowski ran out of fuel approaching turn three and pulled off of the track. By rule, Busch moved to the outside of Logano and then passed for the lead on the first overtime lap. Several cars wrecked after the white flag, freezing the field with Busch the winner and Logano a stunned and dejected second.

It was Busch's seventh Nationwide win this year and 37th of his career, second all-time to Mark Martin's 48. The rest of the top-10: Logano, Brian Scott (his career-best), Reutimann, Jason Leffler, Carl Edwards, pole-winner Kevin Harvick, Reed Sorenson, Jamie McMurray and Justin Allgaier. After running up front all night and leading 27 laps, Keselowski finished a lap-down 21st.

“It wasn't easy because we didn't have track position when it mattered,” Busch said after his improbable win. “No, I didn't think we had it in us. But when Brad ran out of gas and I got to move up, all I was thinking about was not spinning the tires [on the last restart] and not getting pushed up high [by Logano]. Clean air and track position are everything, and we got that on the last restart.”

Busch led four times for 110 of the 203 laps, with Logano (twice for 51) and Keselowski (four times for 27) the only other drivers who led more than 10. Edwards, Harvick, Allgaier and Brendan Gaughan also briefly led. There were 14 lead changes among seven drivers and five cautions for 20 laps, most of them in the final moment.

Top-10 Finishers:

1. Kyle Busch, Toyota

2. Joey Logano, Toyota

3. Brian Scott, Toyota

4. David Reutimann, Toyota

5. Jason Leffler, Toyota

6. Carl Edwards, Ford

7. Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet

8. Reed Sorenson, Toyota

9. Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet

10. Justin Allgaier, Dodge

Points Leaders After 18 of 35 Nationwide Series Races:

1. Brad Keselowski, 2,911

2. Carl Edwards, -227

3. Kyle Busch, -425

4. Justin Allgaier, -454

5. Kevin Harvick, -597

6. Paul Menard, -704

7. Joey Logano, -803

8. Steven Wallace, -862

9. Brendan Gaughan, -902

10. Jason Leffler, -917

Next: July 17, Madison, Ill.

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